A life in the arts—the life of
margaret Petherbridge farrar—Contributed by ETAF
Staff

Solving crossword puzzles is
"...part science of deduction, part mother wit, part erudition."

—Margaret Petherbridge Farrar
First Lady of Crosswords

Considering the extent of the contributions she made to the world of crossword puzzles,
Margaret Farrar (née Petherbridge) more than
earned her title of First Lady of Crosswords; it's as apt an appellation
as one can find.

summary

Margaret was the first lady in more ways than one. She arrived in this world
in 1897, on the cusp of the crossword puzzle
revolution (the crossword was invented in 1913, which is recent as games go).
Her timing
couldn't have been better. She grew up during the crossword puzzle's baby
boom and wasn't far into her adult life she became a prominent American crossword puzzle editor.

Margaret fell into her life's work by accident and by stages became
editor of The New York
Times crossword puzzle feature, the most prestigious and popular of
any puzzle feature in a U.S. newspaper. Under her guidance The Times
became the U.S. bastion of the crossword puzzle.

While enthroned as Times editor, Farrar
established many of the rules and principles that govern crossword
construction standards and conventions; her principles for designing and
styling puzzles apply even to the present day. In addition,
throughout her adult life she constructed and published an enormously
popular series of puzzles that fill 134
crossword puzzle books, the longest-running book series of any kind by any
author. In the very early days, during the 1920s and 30s, her puzzle books
both impelled and capitalized on the nascent American passion for
these "crossed-up" diversions. But so finely constructed are
they, they have outlasted the fads; they're still enormously popular and
still in print.

Crossword puzzles were her life's work and she was a natural at it. If
the Nobel Committee awarded prizes for crossword puzzle editing and
construction, she might have become a laureate.

history

Margaret Petherbridge was educated
at the Berkeley Institute in Brooklyn and at Smith College. When graduated
in 1919, only six years after the invention of the crossword, she had no
interest in crossword puzzles. She took a secretarial position in a bank
(people seemed to believe that female talent could be squandered in those
days), and a year later obtained a position as secretary to John O'Hara
Cosgrove, editor of The New York World, a
newspaper that had been the first in the world to publish a crossword
puzzle.

The man who had constructed that
world's first crossword puzzle was a journalist named Arthur Wynne. At the
time Margaret took the job with Cosgrove, Wynne also was working for him in
the capacity of crossword puzzle editor. Crosswords had grown in popularity
since Wynne invented them and he had become so busy with constructing,
editing, and generally keeping up with crosswords submitted by readers that
soon after her arrival at the paper Margaret's boss reassigned his new
secretary to help Wynne.

As the story goes, at first
Petherbridge was disinterested in puzzles; she didn't care for her new
assignment. But once she started solving them, it wasn't long before she was
looking for ways to make them more fun, more fascinating, and tougher.
Although she didn't realize it yet, by accident Margaret had fallen into a
bonanza.

As it turned
out, Margaret developed a penchant for her new roll at the newspaper.
Some might say that accident is the wrong word to describe it; that
is, they might say that it was fate that the person who
turned out to be one of the world's finest and most talented crossword
constructors had, without trying to and against her own desires—obtained a
job with the inventor of the crossword puzzle on the first newspaper ever to
publish one. Others might argue that her timing was little less than
miraculous; that it was downright odd that a kid fresh out of school and in
her second job had just the right imagination and language skills to make
this a match made in heaven at a time when the crossword was in its infancy
and needed a booster just like her. But whatever kind of miracle was at
work, what counted for her is that she had gained a life-long career; and
what counted for the world of the crossword puzzle is that she was its
champion.

Learn why this job was a perfect
match. Explore the history of the crossword puzzle and Farrar's influence on the game.
Visit The Muse Of Language Arts' page called
World Of Crossword Puzzles -
The Game.

The World of
Crossword Puzzles—The Game is part of
The Muse Of Language Arts' feature called The World Of Crossword Puzzles:
click here.

While at The World, as editor
she developed the structure, style, liveliness, and other characteristics of
the crossword. Her innovations excited the public and propelled the puzzle
into a virtual mania among readers (see below, Contributions). Now
she was an established figure.

In 1924, Simon and Schuster, who
were just starting out in publishing, decided to take advantage of the
success of the crossword by publishing a book of puzzles of their own. Up to
then, puzzles had been the exclusive province of newspapers; now they were
about to be available in book form, a brand new idea.

When it came time to created the
book, naturally the fledgling publishers thought of going to The Times
for talent. They enlisted Petherbridge's services along with those of two
other Times crossword editors, who together constructed and assembled
a large number of puzzles into a book titled, The Cross Word Puzzle Book.
The title may not have been much of an inspiration, but the
marketing was—each copy in the first printing came with
a pencil.

The Cross Word Puzzle
Book was the first collection of crossword puzzles ever to be published.
Nothing like it had been done up to that time. Ironically, it seemed so
great a business
risk to Simon and Schuster, they issued it under the
name of another publishing house.

As it turned out, the publishers needn't have worried. The new book was an instant success; their market timing had been perfect. By 1924,
what was once merely a newfangled pastime was now set to become an important fad;
the public couldn't get enough of them. Because newspapers came out only a
few times a day, they weren't printing new puzzles fast enough; they weren't
satisfying demand. A book filled with puzzles was just
what the public wanted. Moreover, no there was no competition because no
other puzzle books had yet been printed.

This new way of publishing puzzles
was a huge success. Petherbridge was now associated with a great financial
and cultural coup. Her book sparked a national craze. Sales went up like gasoline on
smoldering coals. The book sold 40K copies in its first three months. Two
more books like it were rushed into print that same year. Altogether, S&S sold nearly 400,000
crossword puzzle books in their first year. So strong
was the demand for fresh material, successors appeared at the rate of about two a year thereafter,
all under Farrar's editorship.

In May
1926, she married author and publisher John C. Farrar.

Throughout the twenties and
thirties, crossword puzzles gradually became an established department in
most newspapers, where they attracted legions of loyal fans. The only major
American daily to refuse to include crossword puzzles was The
New York Times, which, by the way, had also shunned the comic strip.
Eventually competition with other newspapers forced The Times to do a
turnabout. Quite naturally they turned to Farrar.

In 1942 the Sunday edition of The Times
began printing a crossword puzzle, and in 1950 it became a daily feature as
well, both under Farrar's editorship. She remained at her post at The Times
until retirement in 1969. While there she
edited 18 collections of Times crossword puzzles. In 1974, she was appointed a director at the publishing
firm Farrar, Straus and Giroux and remained in that post for the
rest of her life. When she died in 1984, she was working on her 134th book
of crossword puzzles.

contributions and accomplishments

Throughout her long career, she
established most of the rules (de facto standards) that govern crossword
puzzles. For example, Arthur Wynne's original concept for his word cross
was to "double number" clues; she relegated this idea to the scrap heap.

See what it's like to solve a
puzzle constructed with "double numbered" clues. See a copy of the world's
first crossword puzzle, the one published by Wynne in 1913, in which he
employed double-numbering. Visit the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament
web site's page on the history of crossword puzzles:
click here.

Among her more important innovations was establishment of the standard grid
structure for the crossword puzzle. She is the source of virtually all the
construction design practices followed by constructors today. They do not
conform to her designs because there is a standards body that says they
must; they adopt her policies because it's smart to do so.

For example, as played in the U.S. today, most
crossword puzzles take the shape of a square box; the box contains the white
squares into which solvers enter letters; white squares are separated by
black squares. The pattern of white and clack squares in this square box is symmetrical. Another way to say this: Pick up a puzzle
by any edge and hold it up to light; now turn it upside down. The arrangement of
black squares will be exactly the same. These are her innovations.

Some of her other innovations:

The puzzle must have visual
appeal. Black and white squares organized in
symmetrical patterns. Not too many black squares; black squares
should take up no more than one-sixth of the diagram.

Boxes in a single answer must be contiguous.

Diagrams must
have an odd number of squares on a side. This creates a central square and
allows answers to go across or down the exact center of the puzzle.

Every letter
must be present in two words, across and down.

No single letter can be wedged
between two black squares. (This characteristic is a feature of American,
not English puzzles).

All answer words must
be three letters or longer.

No
clusters of words that are isolated from the rest of the puzzle by black
squares are allowed.

No uncrossed
letters.

Multiword
answers are permitted, ushering in the possibility to make answers that
are phrases and answers with words related by wordplay.

Answers should
not be obscure, should be true to real life.

Clues do not
have to be taken from dictionary definitions; they can be taken from
real-life situations, humor, slang, and the way people speak in everyday
conversation.

In reading the
above list, did you realize that are are so many ways a puzzle can go wrong?
Today, constructors design puzzles the way they do because Margaret showed
the way.

At The New York Times, she instituted the idea of
making puzzles more difficult day-by-day as the week went on, with Monday's
puzzle the easiest. She strove to publish puzzles that were visually
appealing. She also introduced the concept of the theme puzzle, in
which many or most of the clues and answers relate to a common subject. And
she set a high bar for intelligence, wit, ingenuity, and style.

Farrar was not only a brilliant
puzzle editor, she was a brilliant designer and constructor, a combination
of talents that served her in good stead throughout her career. In addition
to writing columns, she edited numerous editions of New York Times
puzzle books. She later edited a series of similar books for
Pocket Books and a Crossword Puzzle Omnibus series. The Cross Word Puzzle
Book and its successors, cited earlier, were her first major ventures
involving publishing books of puzzles that she had also created. That was
only the beginning. Today she is famous for constructing and publishing an enormously
popular series of 134 puzzle books throughout the period from 1924 to
1984, the longest-running continuous book series of any kind by any author.

Crossword editors require
contributors; good editors attract talented contributors. In addition to her
other accomplishments, Farrar was a keen judge of talent. She accumulated a
group of superb constructors whose members ranged from a sea captain to a
violinist in the New York Philharmonic and included several prison convicts.

More about the world of crossword puzzles

There's a lot more to know about the world of crossword puzzles Farrar
helped to create.

Explore the world of crossword puzzles at The Muse Of Language Arts' page called
Welcome To The World Of Crossword Puzzles:
click here.

Will Shortz

Will Shortz is a crossword puzzle editor, constructor, tournament
director, and game historian par excellence. He currently occupies the
crossword puzzle editor's desk at The New York Times that was
established in 1942 by Margaret Farrar, another crossword puzzle editor par
excellence.

For a cross-worder, sitting behind Farrar's desk is an honor
comparable in some respects to that enjoyed by physicist Stephen Hawking,
who occupies the same Lucasian Professor of Mathematics chair at the
University of Cambridge that once was occupied by Sir Isaac Newton.

Explore the life and accomplishments of Will Shortz at
Electricka's page called, A Life in the Arts—The Life
of Will Shortz: click here.

ETAF Recommends

Farrar's contributions receive
respectful mention from many quarters but, strangely, Electricka knows of no
book dedicated solely to her life. Some places to look for treatments:

Encyclopedia Britannica.

Notable American
Women: A Biographical Dictionary: Completing the Twentieth Century,
Susan Ware and
Stacy Braukman, editors. A short bio and life history explaining her
accomplishments and contributions from the woman's point of view. Covers
place and date of birth and death, family members, education, professional associations and honors,
employment, writings, a description of the author's work, and references to further readings about the author.

Contemporary Authors: Biography - Farrar, Margaret
Petherbridge (1897-1984), a reference volume published by Thomson
Gale. A short bio and life history explaining her accomplishments and
contributions. Covers place and date of birth and death, family members,
education, professional associations and honors, employment, writings, a description of the author's work,
and references to further readings about the author. Farrar receives about
300 words.

The Crossword Obsession : The History and Lore of
the World's Most Popular Pastime, by Coral Amende. As the title
states, this book includes a history of the development of the crossword
puzzle and a description of its underworld. in which Farrar figures
prominently. Filled with one interview after
another, some mentioning Farrar. Interviews ramble.

Cruciverbalism: A Crossword Fanatic's Guide
to Life in the Grid, written by Stanley Newman,
a prominent constructor with inside connections, with writing assistance from
Mark Lasswell.
Intelligently written and full of pertinent facts. Detailed and readable
blow-by-blow style. Partly-first-hand
historic account of the evolution of the crossword, including the history
of Farrar's contributions and an appreciation. Covers prominent personalities well.

Gridlock: Crossword Puzzles and the Mad Geniuses Who
Create them,
by Matt Gaffney.

Farrar's puzzles were nothing if not
consistently good. You can get an idea of this amazingly uniform high
quality by working puzzles taken from books she produced over a range of
years. Two suggestions:

The 7th Pocket Book of
Crossword Puzzles, by Margaret P. Farrar. Published 1957.

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